Dart to the Heart
Studio album by
Bruce Cockburn
Released1994
StudioBearsville Studios
GenreFolk rock
LabelColumbia Records[1]
ProducerT Bone Burnett
Bruce Cockburn chronology
Christmas
(1993)		 Dart to the Heart
(1994)		 The Charity of Night
(1996)

Dart to the Heart is an album by the Canadian folk rock musician Bruce Cockburn, released in 1994.[2][3] Cockburn considered it to be primarily an album of love songs.[4]

The album peaked at No. 176 on the Billboard 200.[5] Its first single was "Listen for the Laugh", which was a hit on adult alternative airplay radio.[6][7] Cockburn supported the album by touring with Patty Larkin.[8]

Production

The album was produced by T Bone Burnett and mixed by Glyn Johns.[9][10] It was recorded at Bearsville Studios, in New York, although it was Cockburn's original intention to record the "quieter" songs in Los Angeles with a different group of musicians.[11][12] Greg Leisz played pedal steel on Dart to the Heart.[13]

"Closer to the Light" is a tribute to the American musician Mark Heard, who died in 1992.[14] "Train in the Rain" is an instrumental.[15] "Scanning These Crowds" is about Louis Riel.[16]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[17]
Calgary HeraldB+[18]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[19]
Entertainment WeeklyB[20]
The Indianapolis Star[21]
Los Angeles Times[22]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[1]
Orlando Sentinel[13]
USA Today[15]
Windsor StarA[16]

Entertainment Weekly wrote that the album "veers from boisterous to a little too sleepy, and includes some beautifully pithy lyrics."[20] The Washington Post called the album Cockburn's best since World of Wonders, writing that it "is dominated by quiet love songs built around acoustic guitar and a refreshingly original take on pop music's most familiar subject."[6] The Los Angeles Times considered it "tenderly hopeful in heart and slightly feisty in folk-rock spirit."[22]

The Milwaukee Sentinel thought that "Cockburn has the intelligent folk rocker's respect for words and almost never writes a throwaway."[23] The Indianapolis Star noted that "Listen for the Laugh" "has a Lou Reed-esque driving beat with edgy, flat vocals."[21] The New York Times determined that the album's best songs "describe a domestic relationship as a precious, all-too-extingishable light in a dark, lonely world."[24] The Calgary Herald concluded that Cockburn "looks within but not without sharpening his sense of observation, his sense of searching for meaning in the presence, the passion of another."[18]

AllMusic called it "a convincing reminder of a gentler, more reflective Bruce Cockburn."[17] Salon deemed it a "great lyrical" album.[25]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Listen for the Laugh" 
2."All the Ways I Want You" 
3."Bone in My Ear" 
4."Burden of the Angel/Beast" 
5."Scanning These Crowds" 
6."Southland of the Heart" 
7."Train in the Rain" 
8."Someone I Used to Love" 
9."Love Loves You Too" 
10."Sunrise on the Mississippi" 
11."Closer to the Light" 
12."Tie Me at the Crossroads" 

References

  1. 1 2 MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 249.
  2. ↑ Howell, Peter (February 19, 1994). "Love and longing from east to west". Toronto Star. p. L14.
  3. ↑ Krewen, Nick (August 9, 1993). "Rockin' the night away: Cockburn puts on a stunning performance to close festival". The Hamilton Spectator. p. D1.
  4. ↑ "Cockburn gets the Christmas spirit". The Globe and Mail. October 27, 1993. p. C4.
  5. ↑ "Bruce Cockburn". Billboard.
  6. 1 2 "COCKBURN'S 'HEART' BRIMS WITH LOVE". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  7. ↑ Sculley, Alan (September 30, 1994). "MATTERS OF THE HEART: COCKBURN'S LATEST RELEASE NOT FOCUSED ON POLITICAL CONCERNS". Daily Press. InRoads. p. 16.
  8. ↑ Quintavell, Faith (May 20, 1994). "AT KESWICK, BRUCE COCKBURN'S QUIET PASSION". The Philadelphia Inquirer. FEATURES WEEKEND. p. 15.
  9. ↑ McKeough, Kevin (May 5, 1994). "Bruce Cockburn". Chicago Reader.
  10. ↑ Johns, Glyn (November 24, 2015). "Sound Man: A Life Recording Hits with The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles , Eric Clapton, the Faces . . ". Penguin Publishing Group – via Google Books.
  11. ↑ LeBlanc, Larry (March 12, 1994). "Cockburn targets U.S. with 'Dart'". Billboard. 106 (11): 45.
  12. ↑ Saxberg, Lynn (September 22, 1994). "Cockburn retires the rocket launcher". Ottawa Citizen. p. F1.
  13. 1 2 Gettelman, Parry (April 15, 1994). "A FINAL HARVEST OF SPRING ALBUMS". Orlando Sentinel. Calendar. p. 7.
  14. ↑ "Dart to the Heart: Cockburn aims for U.S. market: Ageless troubadour". The Kitchener-Waterloo Record. April 21, 1994. p. D7.
  15. 1 2 Gundersen, Edna (April 20, 1994). "NORTH STARS". USA Today. p. 6D.
  16. 1 2 Shaw, Ted (March 5, 1994). "Record Review". Windsor Star. p. D2.
  17. 1 2 "Dart to the Heart - Bruce Cockburn | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  18. 1 2 Muretich, James (March 6, 1994). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald. p. B8.
  19. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 2. MUZE. pp. 442–443.
  20. 1 2 "Dart to the Heart". EW.com.
  21. 1 2 Sharp, Jo Ellen Meyers (February 21, 1994). "Bruce Cockburn is worth a listen; Freddie Jackson rebounds". The Indianapolis Star. p. D6.
  22. 1 2 Willman, Chris (May 22, 1994). "In Brief". Los Angeles Times. Calendar. p. 60.
  23. ↑ Tianen, Dave (January 14, 1994). "Cockburn's `Dart' surprises". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 6D.
  24. ↑ Holden, Stephen (September 9, 1994). "In the Flux And Flukes Of Pop Fads, 21 Albums For Adults". The New York Times. p. C1.
  25. ↑ Bowman, David (September 30, 1999). "Musician in a dangerous time". Salon.
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